INTRODUCTION

Employment casualization hasgain notorietyand it has become a global trend, a type of work practice and arrangement found in developed and developing countries of the word. The ever-declining global economy, the soaring rate of unemployment and under employment has immensely contributed to the increasing rate of employment casualization. Prospective job seeker with the fear of being rejected combined with pressureand stress of changing jobs, adopts this practice.

Casualization manifest mostly in the commercial sector where labour exploitation is prevalent because this employment scheme is tactically design to keep the employee at the mercy of their prospective employers. Although, one could argue that the reason why this practice is in force is maximize profit for business owners but this practice is a dignified form of labour slavery which has limited the employee legal rights and benefit.

This paper X rays the increase and gradual acceptance of employment casualization, its effects and legal implication thereof.

Keywords: Employment, casualization, legal Implications.

CASUALIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

The concept of employment casualization has been an age long problem in the Nigerian labour sector. It has been a thorn in flesh for prospective job seekers because of the failure to properly addressed the issue. Employers of labour now offers positions which ought to be permanent as temporary on a meagre salary and wages, without statutory benefits because of employee vulnerability and lack of viable options. To properly demystify the thematic issue of this discourse, it is necessary to lay a foundation by examining its central concepts:

Casualization
Employment
Casualization is the other name for a temporary employment.[2]The International Labour Organization defined casual workers as the engagement of workers on a very short term or on an occasional and intermittent basis, often for a specific number of hours, days or weeks, in return for a wage set by the terms of the daily or periodic work agreement.[3] This type of irregular work practice is adopted so that workers are employed on ad hoc and occasional basis instead of being offered full time employment.Skilled and unskilled workers who are often affected are subjected to lower wages and they are denied legal right that may arise from their employment’s contract. This is a form of f involuntary servitude for a period of time.[4]Although as the world technology grows there is little or no need for large number of people to be at work and in an effort to maximize profit some work organizations especially the commercial sectorhas resorted to this unprincipled business practice of casualization of workers.

Employment is an agreement between an individual and another entity that stipulates the responsibilities, payment terms and arrangement, rules of the workplace, and is recognized by the government.[5]Establishments use employment to fuel theirexpansion and to increase output.

In Nigeria, the scourge of casualization of employment is gaining grounds in an unprecedented proportion, intensity and scale[6]. Casualization has given employers the flexibility to recruit for the best benefit of the organization by saving cost on some statutory benefit, such as salary arrears and long-service leave allowance which are meant for the employees. The question to ask is that are these reason to operate this unprincipled and anti-labour work practice justifiable?

The NIGERIAN LABOUR ACT[7] is not clear on the conceptualization of casual workers. However, Section 7(1)[8] provides that before the third month of employment, employers are mandated to give workers written statement specifying the name of the employer or group of employers, the rates of wages and method of calculation and any other special condition in respect such employment.

This provision was enacted to protect the legal right and interest of employee but unfortunately, in spite of this provision there has beencontinuous lack of definition of the status of this category of workerscontributing to an upshoot of employment casualization in Nigeria. Blame games are being traded daily by the outsourcing recruitment firms and commercial organization, No one wants to be held accountable and it appears that thereis no solution in sight to end this menace.

CAUSES OF EMPLOYMENT CASUALIZATION

Casualization of employment which has become a global trend isa disturbing concept in labour relations especially in the commercial sector across developing countries of the world, Nigeria inclusive. One can attribute the causes of employment casualization to:

Lack of viable work opportunities in the organized sector
Unemployment remains a major economic and social problem in many developed and developing economies. One of the main driver of employment casualization is the soaring unemployment rate and this has been aggravated by the devastating effects of the global pandemic and harsh economic realities. The labor market is performing extremely poor. Employment has expanded by just 50% of annual global targets[9]. The numbers of unemployed people are on a high increase due to lack of job opportunities. Although, the absence of substantial infrastructure, enabling environment and inclusive government policies for businesses to successfully operate contribute largely to this, employers now take advantage of the congested labour market and Individual because of the need to survive often times subject themselves to servitude and a deplorable working condition.

Labour market deregulation
The deregulation of legal frameworks that guides labour market regulation has reduce legal intervention in the relationships between employers and individual employees to a minimum. Also, reluctance to implement labour market reform has also contributed to this menace.

Weak Trade Union Practices
The Nigerian Labour congress is an umbrella organization for trade union practice in Nigeria. Since it was constituted in December 1978, it has continued to oppose casualization of labour and condemned this unwholesome work practice. Although,they have been able to maintain that most Nigerian employer violates the rights of the Nigerian workers with respect to employment casualization but their efforts have been undermined because of its failure to, investigate and try employers of labour who have outrightly violated various legislation that is meant to protect workers.

THE LEGAL PERSPECTIVE OF EMPLOYMENT CASUALIZATION

Employment casualization which as become a trend was not as pronounced in the past. casual labour was for mainly unskilled who does not have the required technical expertise to function in the formal sector. They are engaged predominantly on short term basis in the manufacturing industry and the agricultural sector.

Today both the skilled and the unskilled are engaged as casual workers in the formal and informal sector. They often times work under a deplorable and dehumanizing work condition and without regularization of their employment contract. This is discriminatory and contrary to the provision of Section 17(2) CFRN[10] paragraph A which states that:

“Every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law.”

Over the years,employers have been exploiting the lapses in the various labour relation frameworks to perpetrate this unprincipled work practice by allowing employers to hire casual employees incessantly to fill permanent positionsand also limiting their various legal rights.

The NIGERIAN LABOUR ACT does not mention casual worker but by implication, it mandated employers to define with a written statement specifying the term of employment. Similarly, the TRADE UNION ACT[11] is not clear and does not provide a legal framework on employment casualization but Section 12(1) also provides that:

“A person who is otherwise eligible for membership of a particular trade union shall not be refused admission to membership of that union by reason only that he is of a particular community, tribe, place of origin, religion or political opinion”

This provision was affirmed in the case of PATOVILKI INDUSTRIAL PLANNERS LIMITED V NATIONAL UNION OF HOTELS AND PERSONAL SERVICES WORKERS[12]where the court held that casual employees have the right to unionize as a constitutional right.

In addition, Section 40[13]CFRN similarly affirms that:

“Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests”

It is shocking to report that employer have been undermining this legislation and all of these robust legislations have not been able to address the employment casualization in Nigeria. Casual workers are still be treated as inferior, they are not regarded as they stand the risk of being discharge without compensatory benefit and this can be attributed to the lack of lucidity in the Nigerian Labour Laws.

In the case of OWENA MASS TRANSPORTATION CO. LTD V. OKONOGBO [14]it was held that employee must be informed of the type of employment he or she is getting into and employee must be aware from the onset that he/she is being employed as casual employee to make an informed decision which type of employment, he/she is getting into.

The court have also have condemned the practice of exploiting workers by tagging them casual workers.[15] In the case of FATAI OYEKUNLE V. ABEL SELL LTD AND HENRY BOYO [16]A casual worker with no contract of employment was fired without notice or retirement benefits after working for about 22 years. The court held that not giving him a letter of employment was a breach of the Labour Act which mandates an employer to issue an employee a written statement stipulating the terms of the employment ‘within three months’ of such employment.

SCOPE OF CASUALEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA AND OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES.

The Nigerian labour law is not entirely clear on legal right and implication of employment casualization. However, this is different from what is obtainable in Ghana, Section 74 (1) of the GHANA LABOUR ACT [17]provides that: “The contract of employment of a casual worker needs not to be in writing” Though, Section 74(2) [18]further provides that casual workers are to be given equal pay for equal value irrespective of the type of employment.

The Act, in Paragragh B-D added the legal right and benefit entitled to a casual worker and Section 75 [19]also stated that any “temporary worker who is employed by the same employer for a continuous period of six month shall be treated as a permanent worker.”

As a result of dehumanization of casual workers in Zambia, workers have consistently cried through its labour movement for improvement in the welfare of casual workers. In 2015, The Zambian government signed into law the amended EMPLOYMENT ACT[20] which bans the unjustified termination of employment and casualization. By implication, it is now illegal for any employer to engage an employee on a casual basis for any job that was of a permanent naturein Zambia.

These are robust legislations and a step in right direction to protect the interest and legal right of casual workers. Although Nigeria has made progress in reforming its labour regulation and part of the effort is a bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to provide for the prohibition of casualization in all forms of employment in the private and public sector in Nigeria and for related matters” which has passed the second reading and if successfully enacted, this would usher in a new era in Nigeria labour relations.

It is important to say Nigeria should borrow same from these African countries on the urgent need

RECOMMENDATION

In a bid to curb the trend of employment casualization, it is important to state the following workable approaches to end this menace:

Total Reformation of labour laws and practices and implementation of robust legislation that contains provision that will expressly recognize the right of casual workers
Effectivemonitoring of all labour related activities to ensure compliance with international acceptable standard.

Tackling the high rate of unemployment and Government policies should be inclusive to create an enabling environment and ease of doing business for employers.

CONCLUSION

In Nigeria, casualization is a known phenomenon and it has been a great threat to the desired level of economic growth and development because employers of labour are exploiting loopholes in labour legislation to dehumanize vulnerable job seekers. There is a need for intensive efforts from government and all related among stakeholders in a bid to end the exploitation of Nigerian casual workers through law reforms, genuine sensitization and information sharing.

[1]BolarinwaAyantunji is a 300 level student of university of Benin, with an interest in labour law.

[2]RasakBamidele. (2011) “Casualization and Labour Utilization in Nigeria” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306240393_Casualization_and_Labour_Utilization_in_Nigeria. Accessed on 27th September,2022.

[3]Retrieved from https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/non-standard-employment/WCMS_534826/lang–en/index.htmAccessed on 28thSeptember,2022.

[4] Ibid

[5]Retrieved from https://www.myaccountingcourse.com/accounting-dictionary/employmentAccessed on 28thSeptember,2022.

[6]Fapohunda, Tinuke. M. (2012) “Employment Casualization and Degradation of Work in Nigeria” Retrieved fromhttp://www.ijbssnet.comAccessed on 28thSeptember,2022.

[7]Cap L1, LFN (2004).

[8] Ibid

[9]Retrived from https://fayllar.org/the-lack-of-job-opportunities-job-employment-opportunities.html Accessed on 28thseptember,2022.

[10] The constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)

[11] Cap T14 LFN 2004

[12]Suit No. NIC/12/89.

[13] The constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)

[14](2018) LPELR-45221(CA)

[15]Bernard Esan. (2019) “Illegality of casual employment, exploitation and remedies under Nigerian law” Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/illegality-casual-employment-exploitation-remedies-under-esan Accessed on 29th September, 2022.

[16] Suit NO. Nicn/la/189/2016.

[17] The Ghanaian Labour Act, (2003)

[18] Ibid

[19] Ibid

[20]Cap 268 of the Laws of Zambia